


The One With Salvation

by gaialux



Category: Friends (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-22 23:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4855073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaialux/pseuds/gaialux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world ended three months ago, and now its the six of them versus...whatever happens to be left out there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One With Salvation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [isquinnabel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/isquinnabel/gifts).



> Set sometime after The One With The Jellyfish, though with an obvious AU bent.

It had been three months.

Monica had stockpiled calenders from every possible photo set -- New York monuments, cute kittens, oceans of the world, even  _Playboy_ \-- and it was now paying off as she meticulously marked each day that passed. Today was June 20. The first day of summer. At least now they could travel without the bundles of jackets and blankets and Joey's makeshift thermal underwear of aluminium foil.

"It works!" He'd proclaimed before the foil unravelled and he'd walked out of the abandoned supermarket stark-naked.

"At least if the zombies get  _him_ we'll be okay," Rachel had muttered as she continued to fill up her duffel bag with the dwindling supplies left. Supermarkets seemed to have been everybody's first stop; the group just didn't think that far ahead.

"There aren't any zombies, Rachel."

"I _know_ , Ross."

It was like this most days.

* * *

Sometimes the group was lucky enough to find an abandoned house or motel close enough to the inner city to retain the feeling of safety. It was always smarter to keep close to supplies -- just in case. Chandler wouldn't admit it out loud, but the idea of zombies still crept in the back of his mind late at night when there was a bump or a snap.

Chandler would draw closer to Monica and hold her until the wind passed and the world dropped into silence again. He wasn't about to let her go quickly -- not after taking an apocalypse (though not the nuclear holocaust he first predicted; she was true to her word) for her to finally admit that, yes, maybe they would make a good team. He worked every single day to prove that.

Tonight -- for once -- was silent. Even after all these months it was still strange for Chandler after having lived in New York City his entire life. No rush of a taxi or beep of a pissed off driver at the crack of dawn. Not even people shouting two apartments down or Ugly Naked Guy being...well... _Ugly Naked Guy_.

"Chandler? Are you awake?"

Chandler shifts to look at Monica, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Yeah," he says. "Can't sleep?"

Monica shakes her head and rests it on Chandler's shoulder. He pulls her in closer. Nobody sleeps well -- he shouldn't think he's ever been an exception. There might not be zombies, but there's people who will do anything for their next meal or a tube of toothpaste. Civilisation's cracked, and the only person who seemed mildly happy was Ross --

"Can you believe we're going through our own extinction?!"

\-- before reality sunk in and, now, it was the six of them against the world.

Monica's apartment now  _was_ the world.

* * *

Ross treated the end of the world like some personalised science experiment. Apparently Dr. Geller really came into his own when Earth reverted back to 100 billion years ago or whatever.

"Apparently a meteorite  _did_ hit Australia," he said, as he had at least once a week since this whole thing started.

Rachel tried to ignore him and just keep walking. Step by step across the shattered pieces of pavement and asphalt. They could have been out of New York by now if Phoebe weren't so incessant on her  _vibes_ and Ross hadn't wanted to explore every freaking nook and cranny. For some reason they always ended up back in Apartment 20, circling the city again and again in search of  _something_ or  _someone_ (she'd since forgotten which it was -- maybe there wasn't a point anymore).

"Hey, guys!"

That was Phoebe's voice, echoing off the buildings and their smashed-in windows. Looting apartments, shops, department stores, homes. They were lucky to find enough food to survive -- good thing Monica's kitchen was its own version of a bomb shelter for rations. They were only just beginning to run out of stock and considering crossing over into New Jersey. Phoebe had some idea that Vermont held a safezone, but the radios died after month one and there's nothing else out there to advise them.

"Yeah?" Rachel called. She really didn't want to be pulled away from the only stash of new clothes they'd seen for weeks. She might have technically lost her job in fashion, but that didn't mean she had to give up completely, did it?

"I think..." Phoebe's voice faded as though she was walking away and then jumped back as an echo. "I think we can go through here."

Rachel dropped what she was holding. Her bag was already overloaded -- and Ross refused to carry it any more -- and Phoebe's voice had taken on a shrill tone on the last couple of words. It could simply be she'd seen some sign of life, but Rachel  _so_ didn't want to be left behind around here.

The idea of zombies might so far be fake, but Rachel wasn't taking any chances.

The rest of the group were already back with Phoebe by the time Rachel had crossed the now-desolate street. At least New York finally found the cure to its traffic congestion problem -- total world annihilation.

"If we stick to these alleys maybe we won't run into people?" Phoebe was saying. A breeze picked up and Rachel rubbed at her arms.  _People_ was now a word of fear.

"Or we could get trapped." Ross. Of course it was Ross. Even with the end of the world he had to be the eternal pessimist. "We were going the right way, we--"

"Come on," Joey said. He was already walking through the narrow wall of two brick buildings. Rachel thought it was the back of the bank but couldn't be too sure -- they were one of the first to be vandalised beyond recognition.

They followed.

* * *

Once, a few years back, Phoebe's psychic advisor warned her of the end of the world. Admittedly, there was supposed to be a fire that started in Europe and jumped across to America rather than a meteorite taking out half of Australia -- but semantics were never important. Point is, Phoebe hadn't quite managed to kick the guilt following her around for not warning everyone about what was going to happen. Which was why, now, she had to make sure the group got to safety.

"Vermont," her psychic had murmured, rocking back in her chair with eyes closed tight. "Safety, haven."

Phoebe had never been steered wrong by her before, so it seemed like the best option. Of course he friends didn't exactly agree with that sentiment, so pretending to hear it on a radio before they all crackled to a stop was a harmless white lie she held onto.

It wouldn't be long before they were there.

* * *

The walls kept getting narrower and narrower, but Joey wasn't amount to admit he may have made a mistake by listening to Phoebe. Besides, she was the only one really trying to get them out; Ross was being his usual buzzkill, Rachel wanted to stop and check out every store for supplies, and Monica and Chandler, well...

"Would you guys stop holding hands? You won't fit!" Joey called behind him. Damn. Wasn't supposed to mention the narrowing.

"What?" Monica yelped. "How won't we fit?  _Joey!_ "

"Just calm down!" Joey had to swallow hard to catch the crack in his voice. He wasn't panicking. He _wasn't_. Monica just had a way of making him think the worst was yet to come and these walls _were_ starting to pull in close. He pressed his hands against the cool brick on either side. His elbows were bent but didn't touch his body so it was okay. Really. "It's fine."

He didn't look back but was grateful for the footsteps following him. The walls weren't getting closer. They weren't. Even if they felt like it.

"This is the right way, I know it--"

"Shut up, Phoebe!" Monica's voice had still taken on an hysterical edge.

And then, finally, light.

* * *

They should have stayed in New York City longer.

Not only were their supplies dwindling, but nobody actually had a clue if this safe-zone even existed.

"Well what other choice do we have?" Rachel said when Ross told the group these very issues. Somebody had to be the voice of reason.

"Uh, stay here where we know it's relatively safe?" That was --  _still_ was -- the smartest option. Not being on the other side of New York and trying to remember where the border was. Things were different when they were ended.

"You scared, Ross?" Monica asked, devilish grin splitting across her face. It was like she had forgotten her own reaction to that narrow space just minutes before.

"No." He wasn't. He just also wasn't interested in getting stranded in a city he didn't even know the name of -- for some reason, street and city signs were some of the first things looted in those early months of Armageddon.

" _Sure_ you're not." Monica was twelve-years-old again and teasing Ross about his ballet or dinosaur collection. Well, who was the joke now? There was proof the world had ended and wiped out most of the reptiles once before.

Phoebe was already walking away from the group. Her footsteps just loud enough in the echo of buildings and vast, vast land. Wordlessly, the rest followed. Maybe sometimes Ross could learn to just accept.

 

* * *

   They did make it to Vermont. Then to Maine where the  _real_ safe-zone was. A start of something new, fresh, in a house they could soon paint purple with a gold frame etched across the door.


End file.
